Spinal Cord Disorders
Spinal cord disorders are the group of conditions that damage the cord without a traumatic event causing it. A fall, a road accident or a sports collision produces a sudden, dateable injury. Myelopathy of the kind covered in this session arrives differently — a vertebral body slowly narrowing the canal over a decade, an autoimmune attack that peaks over four days, a vitamin deficiency that erodes the dorsal columns month by month, or a vascular malformation that steals blood from the cord every time the patient walks uphill. The clinical endpoint may look similar. The diagnostic reasoning and the treatment window are not.
The Spinal Cord Disorders session at the Neurology Conference is built around that distinction. Sessions address how compressive, inflammatory, infectious, vascular, metabolic and hereditary myelopathies present, how each is separated from the others at the bedside and on imaging, and how quickly each must be acted upon. Discussion draws on overlapping expertise from Multiple Sclerosis, where the cord is often the first site of demyelination; Neurovascular Disorders, where anterior spinal artery territory infarction and dural arteriovenous fistulae remain under-recognised; and Neuro-Oncology, where metastatic epidural compression is one of the few genuine emergencies in cancer care.
The emphasis throughout is diagnostic discipline. Many myelopathies are reversible if identified early and permanent if they are not, and the difference between those two outcomes is frequently a matter of hours in compressive disease and days in inflammatory disease. Delegates working in neurology, neurosurgery, spine surgery, radiology, rehabilitation medicine and internal medicine will find the session organised around that clock.
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Submit Your Abstract Here →Classifying Non-Traumatic Myelopathies
Compressive causes
- Degenerative cervical myelopathy, the single most common cause of cord dysfunction in adults over fifty
- Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, with its distinct geographic and genetic distribution
- Disc herniation, canal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis
- Epidural abscess and spontaneous epidural haematoma, both of which are surgical emergencies
Neoplastic causes
- Intramedullary tumours — ependymoma, astrocytoma, haemangioblastoma
- Intradural extramedullary lesions — meningioma, schwannoma, neurofibroma
- Metastatic epidural spinal cord compression, where corticosteroids, radiotherapy and surgical decision-making are time-critical
Inflammatory and autoimmune causes
- Idiopathic transverse myelitis and post-infectious myelitis
- Aquaporin-4 antibody positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, typically producing longitudinally extensive lesions
- MOG antibody associated disease, with its predilection for the conus and its distinctive axial appearance
- Demyelinating cord lesions in multiple sclerosis, characteristically short and peripherally placed
- Neurosarcoidosis, systemic lupus and Sjögren-associated myelopathy
Infectious causes
- Tuberculous spondylitis, still a leading cause of cord compression in high-burden regions
- HTLV-1 associated myelopathy and HIV vacuolar myelopathy
- Neurosyphilis, including tabes dorsalis
- Viral myelitis and acute flaccid myelitis, the latter concentrated in paediatric practice
Vascular causes
- Spinal cord infarction in anterior spinal artery territory, with dorsal column sparing as the diagnostic clue
- Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula, a treatable condition frequently misdiagnosed as inflammatory myelitis for months
- Cavernous malformation and haematomyelia
Metabolic, nutritional and toxic causes
- Subacute combined degeneration from vitamin B12 deficiency
- Copper deficiency myelopathy, seen after bariatric surgery and with excess zinc intake
- Nitrous oxide misuse, an increasing cause in younger patients through functional B12 inactivation
- Konzo and lathyrism, both tied to specific dietary staples and food insecurity
Hereditary and degenerative causes
- Hereditary spastic paraplegia and its expanding genetic catalogue
- Friedreich ataxia and adrenomyeloneuropathy
- Motor neuron disorders that mimic myelopathy in their early presentation, discussed further under Motor Neuron Disease
Structural, congenital and iatrogenic causes
- Syringomyelia, including Chiari-associated and post-inflammatory forms
- Tethered cord syndrome and myelomeningocele presenting in adulthood
- Delayed radiation myelopathy and post-surgical cord injury
Why Attend
Understand Spinal Cord Pathophysiology
Gain a deep understanding of mechanisms leading to spinal cord dysfunction.
Discover Diagnostic and Therapeutic Advances
Learn about modern imaging tools and regenerative interventions.
Collaborate with Global Experts in Neuroscience
Engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue bridging research and clinical care.
Improve Patient Rehabilitation Outcomes
Explore evidence-based protocols restoring motor and sensory function.
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